Tyler County News

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Mark Meysembourg is shown presenting donations totaling over $19,000 collected during fundraisers this past year to National Commander James “Bill” Oxford from the Department of Virginia. Donations from Texas alone totaled approximately $35,000. Also pictured to the left of Mark is the Department of Texas Commander Bret Watson. On the right is the National Auxiliary President, Nicole Clapp from the Department of Iowa. Looking on is National American Legion Riders Chairman Mark Clark from the Department of Missouri.

Special to the Booster

Mark Meysembourg of Woodville and a member of Woodville’s American Legion Post 299, participated in this year’s American Legion Legacy Run. 

The Legacy Run was started by the American Legion Riders (ALR) which is a post run program made up of veterans and spouses who are also motorcycle enthusiasts.  This year’s run started on August 22 in Rogers, Arkansas, ending 5 days and 1,400 miles later at the National Convention in Phoenix, Arizona. Donations raised during the Legacy Run provides money for the American Legion Legacy Scholarship Fund, which gives college scholarships to the children of U.S. military personnel killed on active duty on or after Sept. 11, 2001.  A few years ago, children of post 9/11 veterans with a combined disability rating of 50 percent or greater became eligible for the scholarship as well. 

Last year’s run was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic however, the American Legion Family came back stronger than ever, raising over $1.1 million. Since 2006, they have raised over 12 million dollars.  Donations are raised throughout the year by different American Legion Departments/Posts and ALR Chapters and presented to the American Legion National Commander during the Run and at the National Convention.

This year is the seventh year that Meysembourg has participated in the Legacy Run.  Earlier this summer, he was also appointed as the American Legion Department of Texas State Advisor for the American Legion Riders.  In addition, he also served as the Assistant Road Capitan for B Flight during this year’s run.  With over 250 motorcycles participating in 13 flights, they presented quite a sight running down the roads and highways. In many towns and communities, observers lined the streets waving flags and cheering them on.  During the run, the riders visited different American Legion Posts and had wreathe laying ceremonies at several Veterans’ Memorials and National Cemeteries. 

To learn more about the American Legion Riders and the Legacy Run, visit www.legion.org/riders.

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Countdown to the moment of the attack on the twin towers on 9/11/2001 during a ceremony held to commemorate the event held Saturday at Tyler County Courthouse in Woodville. (Jim Powers Photo)

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Bad Sneakers, Houston’s own Steely Dan tribute act, will appear in Woodville at the Emporium Stage on Sunday, Sept. 12. (PHOTO COURTESY OF BAD SNEAKERS)

By Chris Edwards
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 WOODVILLE – As proprietor of the namesake Wild Bill’s Grill, Bill Spurlock is known for serving up tasty meals (with enormous portion sizes) around Woodville. There is, however, another side to Spurlock that is rooted in the intricate, yet smooth, jazz-rock sounds of a certain band that took its name from a William S. Burroughs novel.

As part of the band Bad Sneakers, Spurlock knows the music of Steely Dan like the back of his hand. Spurlock, who is an ace singer and guitarist, fronts the band, which is a tribute act named, naturally, after one of “The Dan’s” classic songs.

Bad Sneakers will play a show in Woodville on Sunday, Sept. 12 at the Emporium Stage, located at 216 W. Bluff. The show begins at 5 p.m.

Sam Haney, of the Emporium, said the show will be a surefire, can’t miss event. “I think it’s going to be a fantastic show, and it is going to surprise a ton of people,” 

Haney said.

Most casual listeners and classic rock radio fans know Steely Dan for hits like “Rikki, Don’t Lose That Number” and “Reelin’ in the Years,” but the band, which was centered around the duo of Donald Fagen and the late Walter Becker, released several best-selling albums, which routinely pop up on “best of all-time”-type lists in music magazines.

Spurlock said that his interest in all things Steely Dan comes, originally, from his older brother Jim. Although he was too young to experience them in their own time, “I always had a great supply of music from the greatest music decade, via Jim,” he said.

When he was looking for good tunes to use for improvisation on his trumpet, he discovered Steely Dan. 

The genesis of the band came about 20 years ago, according to Spurlock. He had some buddies over for a Saturday jam session. “No agenda,” he said. “It took a bit for us to figure out that we all knew some SD tunes and the rest of the afternoon was spent kind surprised that we could pull off the Dan. The rest is history.”

The band features a 10-piece band that includes four horn players. The band is based in the Houston area and bills itself as “the only band of its kind” in the area in which it is based. 

Bad Sneakers plays such venues as Dosey Doe in the Woodlands; Main Street Crossing in Tomball and the Continental Club in downtown Houston.

For advance tickets to Sunday’s show (recommended), call the Emporium Stage at 409-283-3832. The pricing for tickets are: general seating, $15; reserved first row seating, $25 and reserved second row seating, $20.

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Lamont GreenBy Chris Edwards
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SPURGER – A Houston man is currently incarcerated in the Tyler County Justice Center on multiple charges, including felony theft.

Lamont Green, 28, was one of several individuals on the scene of the Citizens State Bank in Spurger when deputies with the Tyler County Sheriff’s Office were patrolling and discovered the subjects running from the back of the bank. According to Tyler County Sheriff Bryan Weatherford, the incident occurred at 2 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 3, when the deputies on patrol observed two dark passenger cars following one another closely, pulling into several different parking lots and moving around town.

Weatherford said that a short time later, the deputies saw a third vehicle, which was followed by a white Ford pickup truck, make a quick turn into the bank’s parking lot, and the other vehicles they had observed pulled up and parked just south of the bank, while additional vehicles continued to drive past the bank slowly.

When the deputies arrived and the subjects ran, the ATM door had been ripped open. The deputies chased the subjects and captured Green. 

Weatherford said that the deputies were able to recover the ATM’s money boxes, with the money still inside, from a nearby wooded area. The white Ford F-250 was discovered as stolen from a Jasper County residence, while a black car on the scene was a rental out of Houston.

“Several Southeast Texas law enforcement agencies, including the Texas Rangers and the Tyler County District Attorney’s Office are assisting in the investigation of the case,” Weatherford said. 

Green remains in custody on charges of felony theft; engaging in organized criminal activity, and active warrants for his arrest out of Harris County.  His bonds have been set, combined, at $130K with the theft charge, itself, set at $100K.

Weatherford said that with the evidence collected at the scene, as well as additional information that investigators were provided, more charges and arrests are expected.